Healthcare Sign-Up Numbers From Memphis Not Released

(Memphis) It was a packed house Friday as people gathered looking for healthcare answers.

The Health Care Town Hall even had Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Yet the jury is still out on how many people left the Main Library with success in signing up for healthcare.

Seedco, the lead agency for getting people signed up in Tennessee, says it is still compiling the numbers and waiting to hear from some partners about how many people received information.

“We were able to walk people through some of the questions they had about the marketplace,” says Amanda Chandler, who was one of the people helping with sign-up.

Her agency, Christ Community Health Services, had five workers assisting at the event and they helped about 30 people.

“The majority of individuals overall, not just those that CCHS helped, did a paper application is the report I am getting so far. A decent number of people were able to get on-line and successfully go through the entire application process online,” says Chandler.

She doesn’t know exactly how many were successful online.

Neither does Mayor A C Wharton’s office that put on the event.

In a statement, City Hall leaders said the attendance and one-on-one information sessions went well.

While they don’t know how many people actually enrolled, from the standpoint of individuals who enrolled or left with the intent of getting information, the event was a success.

Still, the question that can’t seem to be answered nationally seems to also plague Memphis, just how many people are successfully signing up?

We are told most people signed up by paper because it didn’t take as long and they still don’t trust the problem-plagued website.

The City of Memphis will sponsor two more Town Hall meetings on Affordable Health Care on November 12 at the Main Library and November 14 at Golden Gate Cathedral.